Buying British

Since entering the UK market in 1994, we have made significant progress in expanding our British offering. We have introduced over 100 new permanent products from British suppliers in the last year alone, bringing the total to 1,200.

We are committed to driving sales of British products in line with business growth as a minimum.

Our research shows that buying British is a top priority for our customers. They want to know where their products are coming from, and that by buying them they are contributing to the growth of local producers and the wider UK economy. These values are absolutely mirrored by our business.

For us, buying British means helping to drive growth and create jobs here in the UK by supporting our farming and manufacturing industries, as well as processors, packers and distributors. And it makes business sense. We like to keep things simple, and sourcing locally means we can build close partnerships with our British suppliers, helping to secure our supply chains well into the future. It also allows us to source the freshest quality products for our customers and keep food miles down, so it’s a win-win for people and the planet.

Some of our achievements:

We have signed the NFU Fruit and Veg Pledge and the Back British Farming Charter

All of our British fresh meat, dairy and fruit and veg is Red Tractor Assured, ensuring that British quality standards are upheld in these supply chains

Built on strong relationships

At Lidl, buying British is all about building strong, long-lasting relationships with our suppliers, and our streamlined business model allows us to do this successfully. Our small, dedicated buying team manages all aspects of the trading relationship: agreeing prices, setting specifications, securing volumes and acting as a consistent, single point of contact.

This approach enables us to have a comprehensive understanding of our suppliers’ businesses and an appreciation of the issues they face. We work hard to set detailed volume requirements early and keep our processes lean and transparent.

We’ve worked with many of our British suppliers for several years and they have been able to grow with us through our long term, simple buying practices